Deathstroke #3Review

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Deathstroke deals out some serious death strikes.

By Joshua Yehl

Deathstroke is obsessed with being respected and here he works at earning that respect with lots and lots of murder. The issue is straight and to the point in this, which is part of the problem. If he is so good that he cuts through the competition like a broadsword through butter, then there is no tension to the story. Kyle Higgins attempts to remedy this with Legacy, an antagonist that just keeps coming back despite being brutally killed, but even then Deathstroke just chops him with his sword and goes about his business.

Joe Bennett makes this title look great. There are stylish killings on almost every page, and the action moves at breakneck speed. In fact, so much of the story is comprised of huge panels of violence that the issues feels like it is 10 pages instead of 20, essentially making it a flipbook of gore. This is not Bennett's fault, and so it falls on Higgins to re-examine his pacing and the content of his book. After riding in on an armored death cycle and dealing death for four pages in a row, the reader surely understands what Deathstroke is capable of, which means filling those pages with something to enhance the character might serve the issue better.

The idea behind this title was for Deathstroke to be feared again by showing him actually making good on some assassination contacts, but Higgins has made him too badass for his own good. Deathstroke hardly seems to have any character flaws. His supporting cast tries to challenge him, but he ends those conversations with abrupt claims about how good he is at making people dead. A possibly more interesting solution to the character's problem would have been to show him at a time where he did not slice and dice his way through every mission with ease, or at least give him someone on his skill level who pushes him to his limits. He has killed Legacy twice already, so what motivation does the reader have to fear Deathstorke would not succeed a third time?